Apple gave Parler, the social network of choice for conservatives and extremists, an ultimatum to implement a full moderation plan for its platform in the next 24 hours or it could be kicked out of the App Store.
In an email sent this morning and obtained by BuzzFeed News, Apple wrote to Parler executives that there were complaints that the service had been used to plan and coordinate the attack on the United States Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump on Wednesday -market. The insurrection left five people dead, including a policeman.
“We received numerous complaints about objectionable content on your Parler service, allegations that the Parler app was used to plan, coordinate and facilitate illegal activities in Washington DC on January 6, 2021 that led (among other things) to loss of life, numerous injuries and property destruction, “Apple wrote to Parler.” The app also appears to continue to be used to plan and facilitate even more illegal and dangerous activities. “
Apple said that “to ensure that there is no interruption in the availability of your app on the App Store”, Parler was required to send an update and a “moderation improvement plan requested within 24 hours from the date of the message”, which was sent on Friday morning. Apple said that if it did not receive an update from the company within that time, the app would be removed from the App Store.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment.
At Parler, CEO John Matze issued a challenging note. “We will not give in to pressure from anti-competitive actors! We will and will always enforce our rules against violence and illegal activities. But we will NOT give in to politically motivated companies and those authoritarian people who hate freedom of speech! ”He wrote in a message.
“Anyone who buys an Apple phone is apparently a user. Apparently, they know what’s best for you, telling you what apps you can and can’t use, ”he added.
Launched in 2018, Parler has become a safe haven for people who have been banned or suspended by popular social networks, including Facebook and Twitter, for violating the rules of these platforms. The Henderson, NV-based company called itself a free speech alternative to conventional social media and took a more relaxed approach to content moderation, attracting conspiracy theorists, members of hate groups and right-wing activists who openly incited violence. Recent topics in Parler, for example, called for the execution of Vice President Mike Pence and encouraged the conspiracy theory that left-wing antifa activists were behind Wednesday’s events.
Republican lawmakers, including Senator Ted Cruz and House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, as well as President Donald Trump’s relatives and deputies, created accounts at Parler and urged his followers on other social media sites to migrate there.
“Content of this dangerous and harmful nature is not appropriate for the App Store. As you know from previous conversations with App Review, Apple requires applications with user-generated content to be moderated effectively to ensure that questionable and potentially harmful content is filtered out, ”wrote the iPhone manufacturer in his letter. “Content that threatens the well-being of others or is intended to incite violence or other illegal acts has never been acceptable on the App Store.”
The full text of the letter follows:
We demand your immediate attention for serious violations of the App Store guidelines that we find in your application, Parler.
We have received numerous complaints about objectionable content on your Parler service, allegations that the Parler app was used to plan, coordinate and facilitate illegal activities in Washington DC on January 6, 2021 that led (among other things) to the loss of life, numerous injured and destruction of property. The app also appears to continue to be used to plan and further facilitate illegal and dangerous activities.
Our investigation found that Parler is not effectively moderating and removing content that encourages illegal activity and poses a serious risk to users’ health and safety, in direct violation of their own terms of service, found here: https: //legal.parler. com / documents / Elaboration-on-Guidelines.pdf
Examples of these complaints can be seen at these links:https://twitter.com/slpng_giants/status/1347190280492089344?s=20
https://twitter.com/EmmanueLoree/status/1347260055410896897/photo/1
https://twitter.com/Lovedrea/status/1347263797614972928?s=20
https://twitter.com/Wilmographer/status/1346714000554303489?s=20
https://twitter.com/pjg0014/status/1347265499210592256?s=20
Content of this dangerous and harmful nature is not appropriate for the App Store. As you know from previous conversations with App Review, Apple requires applications with user-generated content to be moderated effectively to ensure that objectionable and potentially harmful content is filtered out. Content that threatens the well-being of others or that aims to incite violence or other illegal acts has never been acceptable on the App Store.
Its CEO was quoted recently as saying “But I don’t feel responsible for any of this and neither should the platform, considering that we are a neutral square that just complies with the law”. We want to make it clear that Parler is in fact responsible for all user generated content on his service and for ensuring that this content meets the App Store requirements for the safety and protection of our users. We will not distribute applications that contain dangers and harmful content.
We now reject your application for the App Store Review Guidelines detailed below.
Guideline 1.1 – Security – Questionable content
We have found that your app includes content that some users may find disturbing, offensive or otherwise objectionable. Specifically, we find direct threats of violence and calls to incite lawless actions.
Guideline 1.2 – Security – User generated content
Your application allows the display of user-generated content, but does not take sufficient precautions to effectively manage the questionable content present in your application.
See attached screenshots for more details.
Next steps
Nothing is more important to the App Store than the safety of our users. You must resolve these issues immediately for your app to remain on the App Store.
Remove all objectionable content from your app and submit your revised binary for review. Such content includes any content similar to the examples attached to this message, as well as any content regarding damage to people or attacks on government facilities now or at any future date. In addition, you should reply to this message with detailed information about how you intend to moderate and filter this content from your app and what you will do to improve moderation and content filtering for your service for this type of objectionable content going forward.
To ensure that there is no interruption in the availability of your application on the App Store, please send an update and the requested moderation improvement plan within 24 hours from the date of this message. If we do not receive an update that complies with the App Store review guidelines and the moderation improvement plan requested in writing within 24 hours, your app will be removed from the App Store.
If you have any questions about this message, please reply and let us know.
Greetings,
App Review Board